UUs Reflect: “I am passionate about…Soul Matters”
It has been about a year since First UU signed up to be part of the Soul Matters Sharing Circles program. Soul Matters was developed by UU minister Rev. Scott Taylor and his team, led by Susan Arnold. We receive a worship packet, a small group packet, and more recently, a social media packet, all focused on a new spiritual “theme” each month.
The goal of Soul Matters is to promote deeper, more meaningful relationships among our church members. The Small Groups meet once a month for about 90 minutes. In the spring of 2018, we had a “pilot program” of one small group with five members. Last fall, because interest blossomed, we started three small groups with a total of 17 participants; all are enjoying the experience. (Interested? Read more about our Soul Matters groups here.)
For me, Soul Matters is successful because it is created by and for Unitarian Universalists. We UUs like options and we value many different perspectives on a topic. Soul Matters provides. Each small group packet is filled with quotes and readings, videos and music to peruse. And, as we sing in one of our hymns, “even to question is an answer.” Soul Matters is based on individual experiences determined through answering questions.
Here’s an example: The theme for February 2019 is Trust. We are asked questions such as, What does it mean to be a people of trust? What is important for you at this point in your life? Do you need to trust life to pick you up? Do you need to trust life to push or poke you? Or do you need to trust that it’s OK to put the work down for a bit?
To find out more, come hear my sermon on trusting Unitarian Universalism on Sunday morning, February 24th. Worship service begins at 10:30 AM.
